Developing Good Business Sense Essay Example

Developing Good Business Sense Often times, consumers do not know the process the products they buy go through to get to the store shelf. Companies have a very planned and cost-effective process to bring goods to customers. Each company will use different operating systems, although some companies will develop an operating system similar to another successful business. I chose to observe and analyze Panda Express, a fast food Asian cuisine restaurant, Wal-Mart, a large discount retailer, and a local gas station. Each business aims to satisfy customers with a different service or product, but may have similar operating systems in place and Operations and Materials Management (OMM) costs. Regardless of how the company is run, the main goal is to satisfy the customer, be more profitable, and ultimately make a profit.

Operations and Organization Each company I analyzed has similarities and differences in the operation and organization of resources. All three companies strive to get raw materials into the company at reasonable costs, process the materials into final products, and finally sell the product to a consumer to make a profit. For example, after a Panda Express franchise owner finds and builds a location set to the standards of the Panda Express owner, they then must purchase the raw ingredients for the food they make. Some companies like to buy their fresh produce close to the geographical area so the produce is fresher. Others will have several distribution sites located around the country that all the raw materials are shipped from. For instance, Wal-Mart has several of these large distribution sites around the country and each store is assigned to a distribution site that services that geographical area. Once the raw materials reach the retail site, they must be either stored or used to make the final product. Panda Express uses freezers and refrigerators, Wal-Mart uses a variety of storage devices, and a gas station uses underground